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Achieving Electrical Conductive Tracks by Laser Treatment of non‐Conductive Polypropylene/Polycarbonate Blends Filled with MWCNTs
Author(s) -
Liebscher Marco,
Krause Beate,
Pötschke Petra,
Barz Andrea,
Bliedtner Jens,
Möhwald Michael,
Letzsch Alexander
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201300377
Subject(s) - materials science , polycarbonate , electrical conductor , composite material , polypropylene , laser , carbon nanotube , percolation threshold , irradiation , molding (decorative) , percolation (cognitive psychology) , laser power scaling , electrical resistivity and conductivity , optics , physics , electrical engineering , engineering , neuroscience , nuclear physics , biology
Electrical non‐conductive polymer blends consisting of a polypropylene (PP) matrix and dispersed particles of polycarbonate (PC) were melt compounded with 3 wt.% multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) loading and processed into plates by injection molding. The morphological analysis confirmed the selective localization of the MWCNTs in the PC component. By local irradiation with a CO 2 laser beam, depending on the laser conditions, conductive tracks with dimensions of about 2 mm width, 80 to 370 μm depth and line resistances as low as 1.5 kΩ · cm −1 were created on the surface of the non‐conductive plates. The factors affecting the line resistance are the PC content, the laser speed and laser power, as well as laser direction with respect to the melt flow direction. After the irradiation an enrichment of MWCNTs in the laser lines was detected indicating that conductive paths were generated by percolation of nanotubes selectively within these lines in otherwise non‐conductive plates.